The ethical debate about identity cards has been reignited following the Queen's Speech, but its facial recognition technology is being used in other areas. Police are hailing it as a forensic breakthrough and a new "foolproof" 3D version could eventually become a routine procedure at cash machines or workplaces.

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A firm which has developed the 3D software, Aurora, claims it is sophisticated enough to distinguish between identical twins.

I underwent the procedure myself and it only took a few seconds. A camera used a near-infrared light to put a virtual mesh on my face 16 times. It merged these into one unique template and calculated all the measurements of my features.

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West Yorkshire Police were the first to use this method and claim that since its inception in June it has led to the arrest of suspected rapists, robbers, drug dealers and others.

It says 70% of images searched have produced useful intelligence worth researching further, with two or three arrests a week as a result.

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"Prior to the creation of this system, CCTV images of suspects could only be circulated within the force or publicised in the media or on posters, to try to identify them. Now we are able to narrow down likely suspects in a very short space of time."